Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know Diary Of A Mad Mumbai Housewife S tartling, dreamlike, frustrating, funny – Karan Kandhari’s debut feature, “Sister Midnight,” is an absolute original. Which doesn’t mean this diary of a mad Mumbai newlywed doesn’t have its antecedents and influences. In interviews, the British Indian director has spoken of his love for Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati, and the film’s careful framing of explosively reactive slapstick evokes both classic film comedy and the deadpan precision ofWes Anderson. Yet there are darker sources that take “Sister Midnight” in disturbing, elliptical directions reminiscent of Roman Polanski’s “Repulsion” and Ana Lily Amirpour’s “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.” Seeing all these styles put to use in a hectic Mumbai setting – with a killer soundtrack mix of Howlin’ Wolf, T. Rex, Buddy Holly and Cambodian pop, no less – is enough to induce whiplash in a viewer. So hunker down and focus on the just-wed couple at center screen, who are mismatched in expectations, personality and every- thing else. Gopal (Ashok Pathak) is shy, inexperienced, withdrawn; his new wife, Uma (Radhika Apte), is a born rebel who chafes in fury at being expected to stay home while Gopal goes to work. “How did those two village idiots get married?” Uma overhears someone saying about them. “He’s a loser, she’s insane, their families packed them off together.” The early scenes of “Sister Midnight” are played for off-kilter comedy, as Uma forces herself to learn the basics of cooking from a neighbor (Chhaya Kadam, ma- jestically bored) and finally pushes back against being left alone in a one-room hovel by her perplexed, virginal husband. Venturing out into nighttime Mumbai, she takes a job cleaning office buildings with a boss (Sub- hash Chandra) who seems as unhappy as Uma is. “Are you sad?” she asks him. “This is just how God painted my face,” he responds. “Sister Midnight” is about loneliness more than anything else, and its vision of a crowded yet mysteri- ously impersonal city becomes a blank canvas for Uma’s fantasies of alienation and anger. At a certain point, Kandhari takes his fable in an unexpectedly gruesome direction, one with tangential ties to horror conventions but flying on its own oddball semi-comic wavelength. It’s hard to explain exactly how the heroine becomes plagued by adorably stop-motion zombie goats and birds. Like Uma, you just have to roll with it. The ace up this beguilingly strange movie’s sleeve is Apte, an established actress in Bollywood film and TV who possesses a streak of unruly madcap individual- ism perfectly suited for this role. With striking presence and a dancer’s command over her physical gestures, she makes Uma’s dislocated fury and ultimately shocking actions both funny and deeply unsettling. That Kand- hari frames those actions in coolly contained composi- tions – the cinematographer was Sverre Sordal – contrib- utes to the air of comic menace. “Sister Midnight” is a trip, in other words. So where does the trip go? In the end, not very far. The film was a decade in the works while Kandhari made several ac- claimed shorts, and it’s an under-sung maxim that one should always be wary of a movie that has lived too long in its maker’s head. In steering his story away from con- ventional meaning – in keeping it hovering on the edge of a dream that could yet turn into a nightmare – Kand- hari robs “Sister Midnight” of momentum and force. It doesn’t build so much as unfold, eventually folding in on itself with a surrealist sigh. If you prefer your movies to follow proper logic and common sense, then stay home. But if you want to see a talented director putting together pieces of a vision – however unclear – and an actress with the courage to leap with him into the unknown, “Sister Midnight” is worth your time. “I am this thing, but I don’t know what,” Uma tells someone about halfway into this movie’s weird, remarkable journey. Her creator is still working that out, too. Unrated. At Angelika Film Center. Contains strong vi- olence, language and some drug material. 107 minutes. – – – Ty Burr is the author of the movie recommendation newsletter Ty Burr’sWatch List at tyburrswatchlist.com. - Special to TheWashington Post PHOTO:MagnetReleasingviaTheWashington Post PHOTO:MagnetReleasingviaTheWashington Post Radhika Apte and Ashok Pathak in “Sister Midnight.” Radhika Apte stars in “Sister Midnight.” By Ty Burr BAFTA, Cannes Nominee ‘Sister Midnight’ One Of Most Talked-About Titles N ominated for Outstanding Brit- ish Debut at this year’s BAFTA, “Sister Midnight” was one of the most talked-about titles at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Camera award and in Directors’ Fortnight. Also nomi- nated for four British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), Sister Midnight won Best Picture in the NextWave Award at Austin’s Fantastic Fest and was warmly received at festivals across the globe. As per the press note by the makers of the film, the synopsis of the movie states, “Newly married, Uma (Radhika Apte) sets out to adjust to life with her husband, Gopal (Ashok Pathak). Living in a small room together in Mumbai, life isn’t easy for her, especially when Gopal disappears for hours on end, leaving her without money. Grudgingly, she learns to cook, with the help of neighbour Sheetal (Chhaya Kadam). But things change for the disgruntled Uma after attending the wedding of Gopal’s cousin. Bitten by a mosquito, she begins to feel sick, as she grows pale and thin. Gradually, she experi- ences a ravenous thirst for the blood of animals. Yet as others fear her, Uma must learn to embrace this transformation or face extinction.” The director, Karan Kandhari, also shared the idea of his inspiration for the film. “It started from just the idea of what happens the very first morning in an arranged marriage when the wife wakes up…and if the guy goes to work and she’s just there and you have no manual to do this. It’s really just about the fact that there is no manual for anything in life,” said Karan as quoted in a press note. He credits the legendary silent movie star Buster Keaton as a major influence. “He was one of my heroes because he could do so much with these subtle facial gestures. And just beyond that, as a filmmaker, what he could do with a restricted frame and the body language and stuff…that’s my humour,” said Karan as quoted in a press note. -ANI 20 COVER STORY June 13, 2025